Definition
妙 (miào) is a versatile adjective meaning 'clever, wonderful, ingenious' — it can describe ideas, performances, answers, or anything that impresses with its brilliance. It is more general than 巧妙 (qiǎo miào, 'ingenious' of methods/designs) and does not carry the 'coincidental' sense of 巧 (qiǎo). 美妙 (měi miào) and 奇妙 (qí miào) are compounds that add specific nuances of beauty or marvel, respectively.
adjective
cleverwonderfulingenious
Easily confused
- 吵chǎolook-alike(verb) to quarrel; to argue
- 庙miàosound-aliketemple (Buddhist or Taoist)
- 抄chāolook-aliketo copy, to transcribe; to plagiarize
- 苗Miáosound-alikeMiao (an ethnic group in China, mainly in Guizhou, Yunnan, and Hunan)
- 纱shālook-alikecotton yarn
- 秒miǎolook-alike(classifier) second (unit of time)
- 省shěnglook-alike(noun) province
Examples
- 妙！Zhège zhǔyi zhēn miào!This idea is really clever!
- 妙。Tā de biǎoyǎn tài miào le.His performance was wonderful.
- 妙。Zhège wèntí huídá de hěn miào.This question was answered ingeniously.
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